Gaining a Competitive Edge With Cloud Computing

Trail Blazers

59% of "pacesetter" organizations say they're "reinventing" customer relationships due to the cloud, compared to only 25% of "chasers" who claim this.

Market Speed

52% of pacesetters indicate they're innovating products and services more rapidly through the cloud, compared to just 30% of chasers who say this.

Useful Figures

54% of pacesetters say they use cloud-based analytics extensively to derive insights from big data, as opposed to just 20% of chasers who do this.

Collaborative Sessions

59% of pacesetters indicate they share data seamlessly across applications via the cloud, compared to only 27% of chasers making this claim.

ISO Wisdom

61% of pacesetters say they can locate and leverage knowledge of experts anywhere in the ecosystem thanks to the cloud, in contrast to 34% of chasers with this capability.

Aligned Parties

59% of pacesetters indicate that they have improved integration between development and operations through the cloud, compared to 34% of chasers who have.

How to Gain Competitive Advantage Through the Cloud: Seek Differentiation

Assess which business areas would benefit the greatest from cloud initiatives, then focus IT efforts on making them happen first.

How to Gain Competitive Advantage Through the Cloud: Grasp the Entire Picture

All cloud efforts should consider how strategy will enhance mobile, social and analytical requirements at the same time.

How to Gain Competitive Advantage Through the Cloud: Choosing a Path

Among other tech decisions to make: Go open source for better speed, scale and access? A hybrid cloud to bring disparate elements together? And what cloud solutions bring the best customized functionality or fill internal expertise gaps?

New ways to maximize the advantages of cloud computing seem to emerge every day, and it's clear that the organizations embracing the cloud are sprinting ahead of the competition with regard to key, ROI-boosting strategies, according to a survey from the IBM Center for Applied Insights. The accompanying report, "Under Cloud Cover: How Leaders are Accelerating Competitive Differentiation," indicates that this is only the beginning: By 2017, the public cloud services market is predicted to exceed $244 billion. Which means cloud technologies are essentially at the same evolutionary stage as electricity was after its discovery in the 18th century, according to the report. Even after the first public power supply illuminated its first street, it took a while for companies to grasp electricity's potential impact. "Leaders are working through this transition with cloud right now," the report states. "And more and more business leaders are recognizing its profound implications for how enterprises can make money, differentiate and compete." The findings distinguish organizations considered "pacesetters" in cloud deployment and the designated "chasers" lagging behind. More than 800 cloud decision-makers and users took part in the research, with 28% of those respondents being CIOs. For more about the report, click here.

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